Art Deco walnut table cigarette holder / card box / vide poche

About this piece

An Art Deco walnut table box, rectangular, with sides that curve slightly domed and a flat, removable cover. Walnut was a favourite wood of the Deco period for exactly this kind of piece — the grain does most of the decorative work on its own, which suited a design movement that increasingly trusted materials to speak for themselves rather than relying on applied ornament.

This one's grain is particularly good, richly patterned and warmed by a patina that only comes with age and handling. It was made to hold cigarettes, but the form suits almost anything worth keeping close at hand — playing cards, keys, the odds and ends that collect on a side table by the end of the day.

As a vide poche or a card box, it does a lot with very little embellishment — proof that restraint was its own kind of luxury in this period.

Condition notes

Excellent antique condition. Some scratches and tiny nicks appropriate to age and use.